Sensei and Student: The Mission
The tall, athletic man leaned against the tall gate of Konohagakure, looking over to the spot where he had seen his old friend leave, twelve years earlier. He felt and knew that Gekihen was his own responsibility, and his alone—but his young student was very eager to infiltrate Gekihen's organisation, for his own, strong personal reasons. During the past twelve years, Juro had hunted Gekihen down doggedly, keeping up with his activities for long stretches, always making sure Gekihen wouldn't be able to launch any plans at Konoha's cost, and he had succeeded for the main part. But Gekihen had always been aware of his old friend's plans, always evading him, always trying to stay one step ahead of the brilliant Uchiha. But Gekihen had gone too far now, invading villages, killing hundreds, striking terror in many hearts. Juro knew that someone as cruel as Gekihen would act mercilessly if Senkai were to be compromised, and Gekihen's lethality had already grown in past years. Few were capable of challenging the beast that was Gekihen, Juro being part of that handful. But Senkai's advantage was his intelligence, his prodigious skill and the fact that Gekihen did not know of his existence—something Juro had taken great measures to ensure. But he had to make sure his student was ready, the young boy whom he had come to view as another younger brother, like the brother Gekihen once was before his fall. Juro turned his gaze upwards towards his student. "Senkai, you sure you wanna do this?" Juro asked, one more time. Messing around with Gekihen's Zenith was no trivial matter. All of them were trained, merciless killers. Juro had fought and killed some who had been associated with the organisation—his first kills. None of them had been easy prey. He had to make sure his student knew what he was doing. After a few seconds of silence, he addressed his prestigious sensei whilst staring at the horizon, "Yeah.... I'm sure." he spoke in a soft monotone voice, his eyes glimmering with the reflection of the sunlight. He contemplated on the note he had in his left pocket, and began to clench his right fist. "What about you. Do you have qualms about killing your old friend? Or do you want to bring him back and forgive him for his actions. When I come face-to-face with him, should I plea for him to change? Or kill him without remorse?" the young man asked, his visage taking on a serious demeanour. His fist clenched tighter as rage began to slightly appear in his vase. Juro understood his student's rage. That rage was bottled up in Juro too, always boiling, waiting to strike. But this was his job, Gekihen. "Gekihen has strayed far away from most reason, that is true. I will always have qualms...he is like a brother to me, just like you are, but I decided on the day he left that if he had to be killed, he would be. Do not waste time pleading with that man, for he is far from listening to reason...but engaging in battle with someone as powerful as he will not end without cost, if you are able to survive." Juro's face darkened considerably. "If he threatens your life in any way, don't plead with him. Do whatever you must to survive. But before you leave, you need to know as much as you can about Gekihen as you can." Juro's face lightened up again, albeit only slightly. "You've grown into a very strong ninja Senkai, mentally and physically, and I'm proud to have been your tutor. Before you go, let's have one last sparring session. Treat it as a warm up session." The Uchiha suggested. Senkai's enrage visage turned into a smug grin the instant those words parted from Juro's lips. "Ofcourse. And where shall I trounce you, Sensei? Obviously not here. How about..." in an instant he disappeared with the wind, appearing at an area slightly far—approximately 15 metres away—from the gates of Konoha. He turned his attention to his sensei in the gate. Taking a stance, he awaited his arrival. Juro's speed was incredible, and he knew that his intelligence possibly outweight his. For him to stand a chance, he would have to dig deep within himself, go beyond his limits, for he knew Juro's skill more than any average shinobi due to experiencing it first-hand in his younger years. Juro matched Gekihen in prowess and surpassed him in intelligence, and in the ninja world, he was a force to be reckoned with. Juro formed the Seal of Confrontation, customary to ninja before they started battle. Instantly he disappeared, emerging a few metres in front of Senkai. "Trouncing, will have to wait, my student." Juro jested as his hands moved. "Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!" He shouted as he released several fiery projectiles towards his student, controlling them with his chakra as he spread them wide to reduce his student's angles of movement. At the same time, his Sharingan activated. Depths of Will Senkai saw the fireballs as he too formed the handseal of confrontation, as protocol for shinobi before a spar. Chanelling his inner will and literally manifesting his life-force into a physical form, a golden humanoid avatar—spanning from the waist up—formed around him, with him suspended in it's chest. The fireballs hit it and left it unscathed. The avatar roared as it faced Juro, the young Senkai exited from it's neck, standing at it's left shoulder whilst looking at his Sensei. "You'll have to do better than that, Juro-sensei." he snarled, his tone showing a glimpse of arrogance. He was determined to prove his growth to his sensei before leaving the village. His avatar began to move forward towards Juro, it's right hand raising to gain momentum and moving to punch Juro. "Nice armour, but..." Juro trailed off as the avatar moved in to pulverise him. Like a bolt of lightning Juro shot to his right, letting the punch sink into the ground, leaving a crater. With his Sharingan he could see the mechanics behind Senkai's technique; the chakra of this 'armour' was connected to Senkai's very vitality. He could see strands of chakra streaming out of Senkai, making up part of the construct. There were probably other forces making the technique up, but Juro couldn't see them. But he knew that the technique's chakra was connected directly to Senkai. Before the creature could raise its arm from the ground, Juro pressed his palms on its hand and vaulted over its' arm, opening up an attack to its' legs. "Wind Release: Gale Force Explosive Breakthrough!" He muttered, as he exhaled a powerful torrent of wind towards its legs to topple the behemoth. The attack went successful as the huge construct tumbled down to the floor. However, with merely a mental action, the gargantuan behemoth faded away as Senkai descended down. Taking a deep breath, he turned to his Uchiha sensei, discharging a portion of his chakra throughout the area. "Scary, wasn't it?" he snarled to the Uchiha, shifting his calf, indicating an attack. Immediately after, he appeared infront of his sensei, taking a quick-paced swing with a spinning kick to his neck. But Senkai merely lashed out in midair. Juro seemed to warp out of existence and now was standing in a further position. The world seemed to warp all over again as Senkai found himself to the ground in a crouch as Juro dissipated his genjutsu. Opposite him all the way down, Juro smiled. "Indeed your construct was incredible, but there's one minor hitch. It's connected to your chakra directly, an extension. That's why when I touched your guardian earlier, you immediately fell under my genjutsu." Juro smiled but turned serious again. "Gekihen can see the same weakness, but even better, that's what his Byakugan can do best. We have to assume he'll know that visual Genjutsu won't work at first glance, but we can't rule out sound, touch and smell." Juro warned. He pulled out a kunai and flung it forward, as an explosive tag was attached to it. Juro detonated it prematurely, sending shrapnel flying at his student as he formed a copy of himself, making the clone face his back. Senkai's eyes widened, he seemed to be outsmarted in that part. Taking in the information, he discharged chakra around the area, and instantly disappeared, appearing high above his fellow sensei and his clone. As he reached closer, chakra surged to his fingertips as he snapped them, and his sensei's troubles all became at ease. Whilst still falling in mid-air, his avatar formed once again, proving to be a solid defence for him as he stood still, not moving whilst gathering natural energy. "If I just enter it... It'll be game over for sure.." he spoke, concentrating hard as his Bishamonten avatar took a stance to strike anyone who dares come closer. Upon seeing his chakra flow get irregular, Juro's eyes enabled him to easily deflect the attempted Genjutsu by breaking them with his Sharingan. However before he could deflect the Genjutsu back towards its' caster, his student had entered the gargantuan behemoth again, making the Genjutsu breakout only a partial success. However Juro wasted no time. After a sharp prod from Juro, it dashed forward at Senkai's behemoth while the real Juro spewed a cloud of ash forward, blocking the opponents view of him and his clone. Juro smiled sneakily as he formed another clone seal. Senkai, however, was already prepared for situations such as this. With merely a mental command, his senses became refined to sense beyond chakra. His invisible barrier covered Juro and spread far, and allowed him to see the atomic structure of a person and the environment around him. And he soon detected the presence of a third Juro, "You sneaky little..." he whispered to himself as his guardian slammed it's hands together, creating a shockwave to repel anything or anyone infront as Senkai remained motionless. "Boom," Juro uttered as he smiled. Several thunderous explosions rocked the air as Senkai's guardian's shockwave triggered them. The massive explosions had been set on the ground when his first clone had shot forward, stomping on the ground and rapidly multiplying the explosive tags. Senkai couldn't see this because of the ash Juro had spewed forward, blocking visibility efficiently. The explosions weakened the ground the guardian stood on, as well as blowing a massive crater ahead. The incredible vibrations also served another purpose— moving Senkai violently as well as possibly making his guardian lurch forward, out of balance. With his remaining clone, Juro smirked as me hatched another devious plot. "That wasn't exactly the plan..but it'll work." Juro thought. Lurching away from the smoke and ash, he leapt backward and blew a gust of air out pushing all the dust towards the downed guardian, as the clone darted sideways out of view. However, due to Senkai's connection with his guardian—it being the manifested physical form of his own life force—he was able to form a connection to it unlike any other guardian. These vibrations did not nudge Senkai's position, but his avatar, as it violently shook, with him remaining adamant within. As the ground beneath them cracked due to it's weakened state, his damaged guardian dissipated with merely a mental command. There he stood, obscured by the dust of his sensei and—at the moment—his opponent. Though concealed from view, his visage had a lot of alterations; his brown hair and the skin beneath his eyebrows had turned snow white, and his eyes had taken an azure form, but the appearance was only the tip of the iceberg as his abilities became drastically improved. His enhanced sensing kept all Juro's in the field, however, due to the increased attacks and momentary distractions, with the addition of entering Sage Mode inhibiting his focus, he did not have any idea which was the real one. The Eyes Against The Body One Juros attacked at high speed, wielding two kunai as he engaged in a deadly game of speed and grace to take down his student—moving so quickly that he seemed to have ten arms, all launching blows at Senkai from different angles. While this happened, the blazing outline of a large phoenix spreading its' wings formed behind the dust and smoke, before several fiery projectiles whizzed through the dust, dispersing it as Juro's creation pelted his student. Senkai, with his senjutsu-enhanced senses in conjunction with his atomic vision—courtesy of sage mode and phantom sensing respectively—could percieve Juro's movements far greater than a normal shinobi, narrowly evading Juro's taijutsu attacks as they were launched. Appearing above, he seemed to be floating to the naked eye, however, an improved semi-transparent gargantuan avatar could be percieved by those trained in senjutsu. Unless Juro possessed such, all he would see would be his phoenix changing course as Senkai's avatar deflected it with ease. The guardian then stretched its arms in an attempt to quickly grab two of the Juros as Senkai remained motionless, not showing any hints nor divulging this information. In his opinion, if Juro were to be grasped by the avatar, it would be game-over. It was game-over as both Juros were caught, but game-over for Senkai. Like a reversal of reality, his gargantuan avatar was not holding Juro in his hands, but rather himself, the avatar was holding Senkai in its grasp. All the way from the distance there was a clapping sound as Juro grinned. "You have a remarkable arsenal, my old friend. Senjutsu, that is truly remarkable," Senjutsu was rare these days, and eventhough he had been to Myōboku frequently (every month or so), he simply didn't have the large chakra that his father, and now Senkai, possessed to learn and utilise the technique. "The moment you stepped out of your avatar to enter Sage Mode and into my plume of ash and dust, you were caught in my Genjutsu. All I had to do was manipulate the algorithm of the Genjutsu which left you, well fighting with the air. Plus I think your Sage jutsu has reached its' limit." Juro raised his head higher and smiled at his old student. The boy's grown in power. Hard to think that he was ever that small kid with potential. He thought proudly of his student. Suddenly the clone of Juro held a kunai at the captured Senkai's neck while it's' other hand ruffled Senkai's brown hair playfully as it perched on the avatar's forearm. "I believe I've won this, then?" The clone smiled. "Huh... Like father like son... The Uchiha always did possess unrivalled mastery in the art of illusions." Senkai spoke as his guardian dissipated, with him landing gracefully on the ground. "Yeah... You win... And it's probably time for me to start my investigation on Zenith... But first..." he turned his head to the Juro infront of him, taking on a serious demeanour "You have to teach me that genjutsu!" he yelled, astounded by his sensei's prowess. Juro's genjutsu skills were noted to be fearsome, and he had earned his reputation. Even someone skilled in genjutsu, such as Senkai, was completely fooled by his illusionary prowess. That, in Senkai's books, was an immense feat achieved by a handful in the shinobi world. Juro stepped forward and nodded, as his clone dissipated. "I would teach it to you, but it would take a month or so," Juro smiled as he winked at his student. "So get your ass back to the Leaf once you bring your girl back." Juro's smile faded as a serious demeanour took over his usually stoic visage. "I've gotta show you something before you go." Juro said, "Look into my eyes." As Senkai looked into those rotating tomoe, he was taken through every one of Juro's memories with Gekihen. The happier ones; Team Six's group photo, sparring sessions, their flawless teamwork on several missions, their comical failures, casual laughter, eating competitions which Gekihen usually won...and the darker, more serious memories. Gekihen's darker sides, his fearsome combat prowess, and Juro's final memory of him; that fateful, brief but intense battle in the outskirts of Konoha. The Genjutsu ended quickly, and Juro departed the most valuable asset to his student; knowledge of Gekihen's combat styles, his mentality and so on. Even if Gekihen had refined his skills over the years, at his core he would fundamentally be the same—and that crucial fact would keep Senkai safe should Gekihen find him out. Juro's Sharingan deactivated as he looked at his student again, as a cool breeze blew. "Go on now, do what you must." Having seen Juro's memories, he finally understood why he tried to help his fallen comrad and brother-figure. "When I come back, I want a rematch..." the young man spoke, brushing his brown hair, he turned to Juro and nodded with a smile, gracefully disappearing with the wind.